


A Chance Encounter

by MandaWrites



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, F/M, Kidge Week 2016, Prompt: Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-09-01 09:04:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8618161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MandaWrites/pseuds/MandaWrites
Summary: An AU where Pidge never disguised her identity and never joined the Garrison. The Garrison does NOT like people looking at their top secret files. When she gets lost in the desert, she runs into someone who's been doing some searching of his own...





	

**Author's Note:**

> I originally planned for this to be for the “AU” prompt, but I thought this actually fit better with “Burn.” But it is an AU where Pidge never joined the Garrison. (And since she never joined the Garrison, she has long hair in this.)
> 
> (Edit 11-2-17: Finally took out all of those gaps between every line)

She knew that the Garrison didn't like her investigating the Kerberos mission. She knew that there were risks involved pursuing information on something classified. What she didn't understand was just how far the Garrison would go to _keep_ it classified.

Pidge ran. She ran as fast as she could despite the sand slowing her steps and the weight of her backpack weighing her down. She could barely see anything in the darkness of the night. Somewhere in the back of her mind she realized that she was probably lost, but her main thoughts were of how terrified she was of that shadowy figure in her bedroom who may or may not be pursuing her. Her heart beat quickly in her chest, her side pained her severely, and her footsteps became uneven. Eventually her legs gave out and her body crashed into the cool sand.

She should have realized something was wrong when she looked out the window earlier that evening and thought she saw someone watching her house, but she had brushed it off as nothing. After all, she hadn't exactly been getting adequate sleep spending all of her available time searching for her father and brother. And living at the edge of town, she was used to occasionally seeing wild animals moving around outside.

The next sign that something was wrong came in the middle of the night. Pidge was woken up by her dog, standing at her feet, growling at the door. She sat up a little, still half asleep, and looked to see what he was growling at. Slowly, quietly, the door opened and in the doorway stood a tall figure shrouded in darkness.

"Mom?" Pidge asked.

The figure started entering her room. As it came closer, the dog started barking and charged the figure. The figure, seemingly unfazed, simply grabbed the dog by the collar and dragged it into the hallway before closing the door. The sounds of terrified barking and clawing could be heard from the other side of the door.

Pidge bolted up, fully awake. That was definitely not her mom. The figure turned back toward her and started making its way across the room.

Panic started taking hold of her. Pidge grabbed the backpack that was at the foot of her bed, opened her window, and jumped onto the roof of the patio. She ran along the sloped roof before half jumping, half tumbling off of the far edge. She fell onto the ground below and started running. She didn't pay any attention to where she was going, or even that she was running into the desert. She just wanted to get as much distance between her and the shadowy figure as possible.

The last thing she remembered was running for what seemed like an eternity.

* * *

 Pidge woke up slowly, trying to recall the strange dream she had the night before. She pulled her blanket closer around her only to realize that it felt… strange. _Come to think of it, so did her bed_. She opened her eyes and realized that she didn't recognize her surroundings at all. She was laying on a futon inside of a run-down shack. Next to where she was resting was a wooden board being held up by cinder blocks which passed as a table. On the far wall, there hanged a large cloth which appeared to have been put there to hide something.

 _That wasn't a dream,_ she thought to herself. _There really was someone in my room last night!_  Pidge closed her eyes and laid still, trying to calm down and pretending to be asleep. She started to think about what she should do next.

Last night, there had been someone in her room. This morning, she woke up in a strange place and had no idea where she was.

 _I need to get out of here,_ she thought to herself. Cautiously, Pidge opened her eyes again to see if anyone was around. The room was empty. _Good_ . She started to sit up, and suddenly became aware of the condition that her body was in. She was exhausted, all of the muscles in her legs ached, and she was so unbelievably _thirsty_.

Suddenly the front door, which Pidge did not realize was right next to her head, opened and in walked a guy with a mullet and a red jacket. He looked at Pidge and mumbled something about her being awake before walking into the other room.

Pidge sat up all the way, realizing that she probably wasn't going to be able to escape just yet. She ran her fingers through her long hair in an attempt to untangle it some as she studied the room a little more. She looked at all of the scattered books and papers and computer equipment, when she suddenly remembered something. _Where is my backpack?_

The mullet-haired guy walked back into the room carrying a tall glass of water and a plate of something, both of which he sat on the makeshift table in front of Pidge. Pidge grabbed the glass of water and chugged the entire thing before setting the empty glass back down on the table. After taking a few breaths she turned to the mullet guy and demanded, "Where is my backpack?"

He looked at Pidge for a moment before walking around the table and grabbing her backpack from the floor at the foot of the futon, out of Pidge's view. He handed it over to her and she quickly snatched it and started looking through it to make sure everything was accounted for and nothing was broken.

"What were you running from?" asked the mullet guy.

Pidge froze. "How did you know I was running from something?" she asked hesitantly.

"Well, no one goes hiking in the desert in the middle of the night."

Pidge sighed, feeling slightly relieved that this guy probably isn't involved with whoever was in her room last night. But the fact remained that she still didn't know him. She could feel him staring intensely at her so she continued to rummage through her backpack even though she had already confirmed that nothing was missing.

The mullet guy shifted a little bit as though he didn't know what to do with the awkward silence. "I found you this morning," he said, his voice a little softer than it was earlier. "I didn't know what to do, so I brought you back here."

Pidge kept looking in her backpack, wishing this guy would just go away.

"I'm Keith," he said. "Are you hungry?" Keith motioned to the plate he had set on the table.

Pidge eyed it suspiciously. "What is it?"

"It's a lizard. I caught it this morning when I went hunting."

Pidge frowned at the lizard. "It looks gross."

"It's not as bad as it looks." Keith looked uncomfortable yet satisfied, as though he wasn't used to having a conversation with someone but was also enjoying having someone to at least try to talk to.

Pidge poked the lizard before pushing the plate away.

"You really should eat something." Keith sat down on the opposite end of the futon. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Call me Pidge."

"Why were you running?" 

Pidge looked at Keith thoughtfully for a few moments before speaking. "Have you- Did you hear about the Kerberos mission a few months ago?"

Some emotion -sadness?- flashed across Keith's eyes for a moment before he hid it away. "I am familiar with it."

Pidge hesitated before continuing. "Well, the official story is that they crashed, but I looked at the video feeds, and-"

"Pilot error" Keith interrupted. His voice sounded empty and hollow.

"There's no evidence of a crash anywhere. I've been digging through top secret-"

"The Kerberos mission failed due to pilot error. The whole crew is dead." Keith's voice was devoid of emotion, as though he was just repeating a phrase which he had told himself many times in an attempt to actually believe it. 

"They're not dead! I think they were captured by aliens!" Pidge blurted out. She could see an angry fire smoldering in his eyes but he said nothing so she continued.

"I've been scanning the systems and picking up alien radio chatter."

"Aliens?"

Pidge couldn't tell if that was a question or just a statement. "Yes. Aliens. The crew of the Kerberos mission was captured by aliens."

"You're out of your mind." 

Pidge was caught off guard at how angry Keith sounded. "They're out there. The Garrison is covering it up!"

"Is that why you came out here? Because you got caught sneaking around the Garrison?" Keith stood up and started pacing the floor, stopping in front of whatever was hiding under the cloth.

"I was trying to find them."

"Why do you care so much?"

"Because they're alive and if we keep looking for them, we can bring them home."

Keith clenched his hands into a fist, his entire body shaking with a mixture of emotions, mostly anger. "They're dead. They died when their ship crashed. It was pilot error. It. Happens."

"No." Pidge was starting to get a little scared of the intense anger radiating off of Keith but she stood her ground.

"Just accept that they are gone." Keith sounded exasperated and seemed to be barely able to hold in his anger.

Pidge raised her voice to match the intensity of Keith's. "I will never stop looking for them until they are home."

This was the final straw for Keith. He punched the wall next to the cloth with all of his strength, putting a hole in the wall and causing Pidge to jump. "Shiro is not coming home. Shiro will never come home. He _can't_ come home."

A heavy silence fell between them. Keith rubbed his eyes as he realized what he just yelled.

"If you don't want the lizard, you don't have to eat it. I'll see if I can find something else," Keith said quietly before leaving the house.

Pidge sat alone, her body shaking and her mind filling the silence with her racing thoughts. She put her head in her hands and took a few deep breaths to calm down. _How does he know Shiro?_

* * *

 

"Mission status."

"The girl got away."

"And the laptop?"

"The laptop was nowhere to be found"

Commander Iverson turned around to face a tall, thin man with dark hair, the same shadowy figure who had broken into the Holt's house the night before.

"Find her. I want that laptop destroyed and her taken into custody for questioning. She knows too much."

"Yes sir." The man saluted before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

 

Pidge sat on the futon, one hand holding the blanket close around her and the other hand grasping a small photo in a glass frame. She shivered, feeling cold despite the afternoon desert heat seeping in the window above her. Slowly the door opened and Keith stepped into the house. His face was red and his sweaty hair stuck to his head, both side effects from being outside in the heat of the day.

"Hey" Keith mumbled.

Pidge looked up at him and half-heartedly hid the photo she was staring at. Her eyes were red and puffy and she could barely get out a "hey" without her voice cracking.

Keith internally panicked when he saw that she had been crying. "Um" he murmured, unsure of what to say or do. "I'll be right back." He disappeared into the room that Pidge figured was the kitchen. She could hear the tell-tale sounds of someone cooking, and approximately twenty minutes later Keith reemerged with a plate full of some sort of green vegetable.

"Food" he said lamely. "It's cactus."

Pidge rubbed her eyes. "Thanks," she said as she accepted the plate. 

"Are you thirsty?"

Pidge nodded.

Keith went back into the kitchen and returned with a glass of water and a plate of cactus for himself. He sat down at the opposite end of the futon and the two of them ate together in awkward silence.

"You're related to the Holts, aren't you?"

Pidge paused before answering. "Yes. Commander Holt is my father. Matt is my brother." She pulled the photo of her and her brother out from under the blanket where she had hidden it and showed it to Keith. 

"You look so much like your brother."

Pidge smiled slightly as she recalled various memories from when her and Matt were kids.

"What about you? How do you know Shiro?"

Keith let out a long, deep sigh. "He was the closest thing I've ever had to a family. He was there for me when no one else was."

"Hm." Pidge responded. They finished the rest of their meal in silence, only this time it was more of a comfortable silence as opposed to the awkward silence from before. When they had finished eating, Keith gathered up all of the dishes and put them in the kitchen. He returned and leaned against the doorway, arms crossed.

"Have you really been picking up alien radio chatter?"

Pidge perked up. "Yes. I've been searching for any sign of dad or Matt, but mostly they've just been talking about something called a Voltron. I think it's some sort of weapon they're looking for or something."

Keith regarded her thoughtfully before he walked across the room and clutched the cloth hanging on the wall.

"I want to show you what I've been working on."

Keith pulled the cloth down to reveal a large bulletin board. In the middle of the board was a map of the desert with markings written all over it, and surrounding the map were pictures of various things such as cave drawings, locations within the desert, and star constellations as well as various notes scribbled on pieces of paper.

"I used to be a Garrison cadet, but after Shiro di- uh, went missing, I got kicked out. After that, I felt lost and I was drawn out here to this place. I felt some energy telling me to search. I didn't know what I was searching for, but then I stumbled across this." Keith pointed to a spot on the map that was circled numerous times and had the words "ENERGY SOURCE!" written on it.

"What's there?" Pidge asked as she made her way across the room to get a closer look.

"It's an outcropping of giant boulders and caves covered in these ancient markings. Each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues about some event, or some sort of arrival that's supposed to happen soon."

Pidge ran her hand across the area of the map that Keith had pointed out. "I wonder if this is somehow connected to the Voltron." She turned to face Keith and smiled up at him. "Let's go check it out!"

Keith wanted to tell her that it would be pointless, that he had explored the area hundreds of times and didn't find anything other than the cave markings, but when he saw the excited and inquisitive look in her eyes, he couldn't say any of that.

"Alright, let's go."

Pidge grabbed her backpack and followed Keith out the front door. He lead her around the side of the house where there was parked a red speeder. He climbed up followed by Pidge climbing up right behind him.

"Hold on."

Pidge wrapped her arms securely around Keith's waist as Keith started the speeder. He gave it some gas and they sped off in the direction of the caves.

It took a little while to get to the caves and once they arrived Keith parked the speeder between two boulders where it would be reasonably well hidden. 

They climbed off of the speeder and Pidge mindlessly sat her backpack down on the ground behind a rock where it was also hidden and out of the way.

"We don't have much time before it'll start getting dark," Keith said as he looked up at the sky.

Pidge started wandering through the boulders, tracing a few of the markings with her fingers. "These are the markings you found?"

Keith walked over to stand at her side. "Yes."

"They're everywhere."

Keith watched as Pidge wandered around the boulders and caves, her inquisitive mind studying the markings with fascination. He had been alone for so long that he had almost forgotten what it was like to have someone to talk to and to share things with. _And she's so cute too!…_

Keith quickly stopped his mind from wandering. He wasn't meant for companionship, he was meant to be alone. After all, if he wasn't meant to be alone, why did everyone always abandon him?

But no matter how many times he told himself that, that didn't stop him from _wanting_ someone - someone to talk to, someone to spend time with, someone to care about and who cares about him.

Because that's what normal people have, right? Someone to care about.

Pidge has people she cares about. The only reason they met at all was because she was searching for them.

And yet the feeling of her wrapping her arms around him in lieu of a seatbelt was still fresh on his mind.

* * *

 

The two of them wandered around for a while until it started to get too dark. "We should head back,” Keith said. Pidge agreed.

They had wandered quite far, but Keith knew these caves like the back of his hand. He lead them back to the speeder with ease and they climbed back on it. Between being still tired from having run away until she passed out the night before and the emotional energy she had expended on crying earlier, Pidge was exhausted. She could barely keep her eyes open, so she let them close and rested her head on Keith's back. Maybe it was her tired mind playing tricks on her, but somehow she felt safe with Keith. After a little while, she felt Keith tense up so she forced her eyes open to see what was going on.

Off in the distance, in the direction of Keith's house, she could see a bright flickering light. It almost looked as if something was on fire. Pidge squinted a little so she could see better. _There IS something on fire!_

Keith sped up until they were flying as fast as they could go. As they got closer she could see that it was Keith's house that was on fire. Keith pulled up to the house and jumped off of the speeder, almost knocking Pidge off in the process.

At this point, the house had already been completely engulfed in flames. Keith just stared helplessly at his burning house for a moment before screaming and kicking the red vehicle next to him.

Pidge stood a few feet behind him, wanting to do something but not knowing what to do. There was nothing she could do. The two of them were so distracted that they didn't notice the black car sitting a few yards away from the burning building, nor did they hear the sound of footsteps approaching them from behind. First Pidge, then Keith. A hand over the mouth, a needle in the neck, then nothing.

* * *

 

Pidge woke up confused. Her head was still scrambled from the injection they used to knock her out. As her vision began to clear up, she looked around. She was sitting in at a table in a plain, chilly room. Across the table was an empty chair. To her left was a large mirror, and in the corner of the room was a camera facing her. She turned around to see what was behind her. There was a door with no doorknob and another camera in the opposite corner.

Pidge turned back around and adjusted herself so her elbows were on the table and her head was cradled in her hands. She felt both dizzy and nauseous. She sat like that for a long time until they settled down enough for her to think. She looked around the room. The door looked like it could only be opened from the outside. There was one small air vent near the ceiling but it was way too small for even her to fit through. And the mirror appeared to be built into the wall, making it unlikely that there was any way of escape hidden behind it.

She realized that the only option she had was to wait for someone to enter the room.

So she waited.

And she waited.

And she waited. 

* * *

 

Keith was woken up with a start. He was sitting in a chair with his arms restrained at his sides. He was in a plain room and in front of him was a table. Across the table from him sat Commander Iverson. 

"It's been a long time, hasn't it Keith?"

Keith glared at him.

"I realize the last time we spoke wasn't exactly the best of circumstances," Iverson continued. "But let's put the past in the past and look to the future."

Keith scoffed. He knew that Commander Iverson wasn't the kind of person to forgive so easily.

"I can tell you've been busy since you were dismissed from the Academy." Iverson tossed a folder on the table which Keith immediately recognized as the folder where he kept some of the most relevant information about the blue lion.

"What is this blue lion?"

Keith sighed. "A dead end."

Commander Iverson raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then what about this 'arrival' happening soon?"

"I- … I don't know." 

* * *

 

Pidge laid her head on the table and closed her eyes. She didn't feel like counting the 112 tiles on the floor again. It had been nearly an hour since she had woken up and the only thing that had happened was that the room had warmed up and the chill was gone. Suddenly, the door opened and a man dressed in a dark gray Galaxy Garrison uniform entered. He sat down in the chair across from Pidge.

"Miss Holt," began the man sitting across from her. "I see that you are awake. Are you comfortable?"

The man paused for a moment to allow Pidge to answer. Pidge remained silent so the man continued.

"I'm sure you are aware that you are in a _lot_ of trouble. We know that you have been trespassing on government property and accessing classified information. We have some questions about the information you have. Now we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. The choice is up to you."

Pidge clenched her fist. She did not like where this was going.

"We are willing to overlook the felonies you committed and grant you a full pardon. All you have to do is tell us where the laptop is and agree to never speak of the Kerberos mission again."

Pidge sneered. "I want my family back."

"Listen," the interrogator said with a fake softness to his voice. "I'm sorry, but they're dead. Even if they managed to survive the crash, do you really think they would've survived this long stranded at the edge of the solar system?"

These words made Pidge angry. "They didn't crash! They were taken!"

"Taken by who? Aliens?" The interrogator had a slight mocking tone to his voice. "What proof do you have that aliens even exist?"

"I've been scanning the skies and picking up radio chatter" Pidge blurted out.

"Using your laptop?"

Pidge realized that she had made a mistake and remained silent.

"How do you know that the waves you're receiving are even coming from space and not the city?"

* * *

 

"What is your connection to Katie Holt?"

"Who?"

"Katie Holt. The girl who was in the desert with you."

"Pidge?"

"Is that how she introduced herself to you? She didn't even tell you her real name? 

Keith hesitated. "I don't know her. I just met her yesterday."

"Did you know that she has been illegally accessing classified information regarding matters of national security? She could be charged with treason, and you could be charged as a conspirator."

Keith rolled his eyes.

"All of the information that she has stolen is being stored on a laptop. We need that laptop. If the information she has is made public there will be disastrous consequences. Now I have an offer for you. I will personally allow you to be pardoned from our little incident and reinstated as a cadet in the space exploration program. All you have to do is tell us where Katie's laptop is."

Keith's eyes narrowed. The commander leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms. "What's wrong? Don't you _want_ to be a cadet?"

"Why would you pardon me?"

"You were the best pilot in your class and a straight-A student with great potential. Aside from your discipline issue, you were a model student. A kid like you would be an asset to this academy. I weren't even consider reinstating you if it weren't for that. But," the commander leaned forward again. "We want students who are loyal to the Galaxy Garrison. In telling us where Katie Holt's laptop is, you would prove your loyalty."

Keith's heart started beating faster as he let Commander Iverson's words sink in. _Reinstated as a cadet?_ He thought he had given up on his dream of becoming a space explorer, but suddenly it was a possibility again.

"I can see that you need some time to think about this. I'll come back later." Commander Iverson stood up and started to walk toward the door before turning around and putting something on the table in front of Keith.

"Think about it," he said before exiting the room.

Keith looked down at what the commander had set before him. On the table was a file photo of Keith in his orange cadet uniform, taken just before he had started classes.

* * *

 

"I know how hard it is to lose a family member. I know how hard it can be to accept that they're gone and move on. But please, consider your future. You're a smart girl and you have a lot to offer this world. You should give up this pointless quest and focus something that isn't a dead end."

Pidge leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, staring at the floor in an attempt to avoid eye contact.

"Just tell us where the laptop is and you can return home to your mother. You can create a new goal. You can make something of yourself, something other than a girl who spent her entire life chasing after a lost cause."

Warm tears welled up in her eyes at the very thought of giving up on her family.

"No,” she squeaked. "I won't stop looking for them. They're out there somewhere. They have to be."

"Miss Holt." Pidge shuddered at the false kindness his voice had. "I don't think you understand the gravity of your situation. You could be charged with a felony. We here at the Galaxy Garrison believe that every young person should be given a chance to be great. Don't you want a clean slate and a chance to start over? Or would you rather spend the rest of your life in prison?"

Pidge kept silent. The thought of being a felon genuinely scared her, but there was no way she would give up her search so easily.

"Where is the laptop?"

Pidge thought about it. _Come to think of it, where is the laptop?_ She remembered having it with her when she and Keith left the house, and she thought she had it with her when she returned. But if she had had it when she was kidnapped, the Garrison would have it and they wouldn't be asking her where it was. The room was getting hot, making it hard for her to think. She didn't know where the laptop was. Pidge's eyes went wide, something that did not go unnoticed by the interrogator. 

"I- I lost it," she said, thinking out loud more so than answering the question.

"You lost it where?" asked the interrogator, egging her on.

"In the desert."

"So you _don't_ know where it is?"

Pidge started to panic, the threat of being charged with a felony still in the front of her mind and the realization setting in that she had lost all of her equipment somewhere in the desert. That she would have to start her search again from scratch, if she was even able to without her equipment.

"No." Her voice came out weak and shaky. She tried so hard to not let the interrogator see that he was getting to her, but she failed miserably.

"Are you sure?"

She tried to hold back her tears but a few of them escaped and ran down her cheeks. "I lost it. I lost it in the desert."

"Did you drop it?" The interrogator saw that Pidge had cracked and he kept pressing to see how much he could get out of her.

"No. I-it was in my- my b-backpack." A few sobs escaped despite her best efforts.

"And where is the last place you had your backpack?"

"I-in the d-desert."

* * *

  

Keith sat alone in the empty room. His mind took him back to when he was a child. He was constantly in and out of trouble, constantly being moved from foster home to foster home. No one wanted to take care of him, not even his own parents - not that he even knew who his parents were. He didn't dwell on that too much, though, after all they weren't there for him when he needed them, so why should he care?

It was when he was 11 years old that he decided to run away. He could still remember that day very clearly. He had just been informed that he was to be moved to yet another "home," that he was too much to handle, that he caused too many problems. Something inside of him, something which had been broken for a long time, finally just snapped. That night, he gathered what little belongings he had and ran away. He didn't want to go to another foster home. He wanted a _real_ home with a _real_ family.

It was a few days after that when he met Shiro. Shiro was a recent graduate of the Academy and was working a desk job at a record-keeping and recruiting office in town. He hated that job and was in the process of applying for a 10-year position on a small team dedicated to exploring the solar system and testing the feasibility of creating outposts on nearby planets and their moons, as well as searching for signs of life on these planets. He was walking home late one evening and decided to take a shortcut back to his small apartment. The shortcut just happened to take him through the alley where Keith was living.

Keith remembered hearing the footsteps of someone walking down the alley. He got up from the hidden spot where he slept and tried to climb up on one of the dumpsters to get a better look, but he slipped and fell.

Shiro jumped. "Who's there?" 

Keith laid still on the ground where he had fallen. He hoped that this guy would just leave the alley, but instead he cautiously studied the area where he heard the crashing sound, his guard up.

Keith pulled himself to his feet and stepped out of the shadows. "Get out of here!" he yelled, trying to sound tough and intimidating, but all Shiro saw was a scared, angry, lonely child.

"Where are your parents?" Shiro asked slowly.

"Hell if I know!" Keith responded, standing in a shaky fighting stance.

Shiro looked around. He hadn't run into anyone else on his walk home, and there was no one in sight now. On top of that, he looked like he hadn't bathed in at least a week. This child truly was alone.

Keith's stomach growled audibly and he swayed as though he was about to fall over. Shiro reached out to catch him, but Keith pushed him away.

"It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you," Shiro said. "Do you want something to eat?"

"No!" Keith said as his stomach growled again. He clutched his stomach.

Shiro put his hand on Keith's shoulder. Keith shot him an angry look but didn't fight back this time. He was too weak with hunger to keep pretending he was strong.

"Come with me. There's food back at my apartment."

Keith didn't want to go with him, but the promise of food lured him out of the alley and he followed Shiro home.

It took a while to get Keith to talk but after Shiro found out what happened and that he had run away after being moved around from house to house, he decided to take him in. It was not easy. Shiro had no idea how to take care of a child, and Keith didn't make it easy for him. There was a lot of arguing and door-slamming and Keith had a tendency to break things when he was angry, but Shiro never gave up on him. And in between the yelling and fighting, Shiro would share his love of the stars and of space exploration with Keith. At night, they would climb up on the roof of the apartment with Shiro's telescope and look at the stars. Shiro would teach him how to find constellations, and about comets and meteors and all sorts of stuff.

When Shiro was accepted as the pilot of a crew, consisting also of scientists Matt Holt and Matt's father, Samuel Holt, they started going on various missions. They started with nearby planets, going there, gathering data, and returning home. But as they started exploring planets and moons further away, their trips would take longer and longer. But they _always_ returned, and Shiro _always_ came home excited to tell Keith all about the trip. 

Keith used this alone time to start studying. He would borrow books about space from the library and read them in the silence of the empty apartment. He became fascinated with space and space exploration and started dreaming of becoming a pilot, just like Shiro. As soon as he was old enough he applied for, and was accepted into, the Galaxy Garrison as a cadet. It was around this time that Shiro found out that the next mission for he and his crew was to Kerberos, the moon of Pluto. This was going to be the longest mission yet. With Keith living in the dorms and Shiro living in space for the next several months, they had decided to not renew the lease for Shiro's apartment.

Everything was going well for Keith.

Until one evening after class when he turned on the news while getting ready for bed.

"The Galaxy Garrison mission to the distant moon of Kerberos is missing and all crew members are believed to be dead. The Galaxy Garrison has said that the crash was presumably caused by pilot error. It is indeed a sad day for all of humanity."

The glass that Keith was holding slipped out of his hand and crashed to the floor, water spilling everywhere.

 _Kerberos… Missing… Believed to be dead… Pilot error…_

These words rang through Keith's mind. Something about this just didn't make sense. Shiro was a great pilot. He knew what he was doing. How could he have messed up like that?

_Pilot error._

Those words haunted him. 

Keith spent the next few weeks in a daze. His grades started slipping and he started acting out in anger again. Eventually, he went too far and made a mistake that got him kicked out of the program. 

Everything he had, everything he worked for, was now gone. Having nowhere else to go, he wandered out in the desert. He found an abandoned shack and decided to make that his new house. He started searching for something to put meaning back into his life, or at least to distract from everything he had lost and the loathing he had for himself in knowing that it was his fault he was kicked out of the Garrison. He felt as though he was meant for space exploration, to travel to other worlds and to see what was beyond his solar system, and he had ruined his one chance. No matter how he tried to distract himself from his failed dreams, there was a fire within him that nothing could put out.

Keith wanted nothing more than to be reinstated as a cadet. He wanted to be in the program so bad it _hurt_. 

And now here he was being offered a chance to be put back into the program he had been kicked out of.

All he had to do was tell them where Pidge's laptop was.

Keith stared at the picture left behind by Commander Iverson. He looked so happy in that picture.

* * *

 

"What is your association with Keith Kogane?" The abrupt change in topic left Pidge feeling both relieved and surprised.

"Keith?" Pidge thought for a moment. Yesterday morning felt like such a long time ago, she didn't realize that it had barely been 24 hours since she met him. "I got lost in the desert and he helped me out. I really don't know him."

"Did you know that he is a former cadet at this academy?"

"Yeah, he did mention it." Pidge was still very much shaken up but tried to regain some composure and steady her voice.

"And did he tell you why he is no longer a cadet?" Again with the falsified softness in his voice.

"He told me he was kicked out."

"Is that all he told you?"

"Yes."

"So he didn't tell you that he attacked a superior officer? _Unprovoked_?" 

Pidge's breath hitched. _He attacked someone?_ She realized that she didn't know him well, or at all, but… _Why would he attack a senior officer?_

"Keith is a troubled youth. He has a history of anger issues. He barely passed his psychological evaluation and almost didn't make it into the program. And of course, he didn't last very long."

The interrogator leaned forward, his voice taking on more of a serious tone. "He could be very dangerous. Think carefully about continuing any association with him."

Pidge's head reeled. The room was so hot she had trouble thinking straight, the threat of punishment still loomed in her mind, and the realization was setting in that she didn't know Keith at all.

"O-ok." 

The interrogator studied her for a few moments before leaning back, a satisfied look on his face. "That is all. In a few minutes you will be escorted to a cell where you will stay until we find the laptop." 

Pidge didn't move. She just stared at the table, her mind a mess of confusing thoughts. She didn't resist when the guard pulled her from her seat, secured some handcuffs around her wrists, and ushered her out into the hall. She stared at the floor as she walked, her mind too busy to care about where she was being lead. The air in the hall was much cooler than it was in the interrogation room she was just in. She took a deep breath and tried to clear her head. After a second deep breath, one word took over her mind: _Escape_.

* * *

 

The door opened and Commander Iverson reentered the room. Iverson sat down in the chair across from Keith.

"So. Did you come to a decision? Will you tell us where the laptop is?"

Keith took a deep breath. He was essentially being offered everything he had been longing for the last few months. Well, almost everything.

"Well?" Commander Iverson looked impatient.

"… No." Something about this offer just didn't feel right. He had honestly considered telling him what he knew about the laptop and Pidge's search. He wanted to be a cadet more than anything. But it felt wrong. Everything inside of him screamed to not sell out Pidge like that.

Commander Iverson's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"Listen, Keith. We know that you know where the laptop is. We don't have to reinstate you, but we do have other ways of making you talk."

Keith let out a dry laugh. "How? You've already taken everything from me. What else could you possibly take?" There was a lot more emotion in his voice than Keith intended.

"Are you sure about that? _Everything?_ "

Keith looked at him confused. _Shiro was gone, his house was gone, his hopes of ever going into space was gone, what else was there?_

"That Holt girl, Pidge she apparently calls herself, could have a bright future. That is, if nothing tragic happens to her."

Keith could feel his heart pounding in his chest. _When did he start to care about Pidge so much?_ They had only known each other for a few hours, but they had already started to bond in that short amount of time. She was the second person that Keith had ever bonded with so quickly. 

"She's been cooperating with us so well. There's even a chance she may get out of here with a clean record."

"Where is Pidge? What have you done to her?"

Commander Iverson smirked. He had found a weakness that he could exploit.

"She's fine. She's being questioned in another room. Depending on how well she cooperated, she may even be on her way to her cell by now."

Keith tensed. "I swear, if you hurt her, I'll-"

"You'll what?"

Keith froze. His arms were restrained so he couldn't move, and even if he was able to move if he tried to do _anything_ he would be quickly taken down anyway. Not only that, he knew that Pidge was being held captive somewhere within the building and anything he did to resist could come back badly on her.

* * *

 

Pidge kicked the guard in the knee -hard- causing it to buckle and as he fell she laced her fingers together and hit him in the jaw with both hands. The guard stumbled back and whacked his head off of the wall before falling unconscious to the floor. Pidge shook as she searched his utility belt for something to take her handcuffs off with. She found a multi-tool and was able to use it to pick the lock. She then grabbed his access card and hesitated briefly before grabbing his taser too.

Pidge stood up and looked around. She was in a dead-end hallway. To her right there were two doors, one of which was the room she was just interrogated in and the other, presumably, was an observation room. Across the hall was an identical set of doors. _I wonder if that's where Keith is_ she thought.

Pidge walked over to the second door on the left. _And there's probably someone in here watching._ She took the plate off of the electronic lock and messed with the wires until she was sure the door was sufficiently locked. After that, she lifted up the floor panel to reveal the wires underneath. She squeezed herself into the tight crawlspace and slid under the door.

"In the short amount of time you've known Miss Holt, you seem to have gained quite an attachment to her," came a voice through the speakers in the room above.

 _They're talking about me!_ Pidge realized. 

Pidge could hear Keith take a tense breath. She tensed as well.

"Am I wrong?" 

"You're not wrong," Keith whispered, barely audible. 

"Why are you so adamant about defending her?" 

Pidge listened in, wanting to know what Keith had to say. 

"I-I… I don't know."

"Do you think she'd do the same for you?"

"… I don't know."

"If you cooperate, no harm will come to her."

Pidge snapped back to what she was doing. She didn't want Keith to say anything, so she quickly found the wires she was after and cut them with the knife on the multi-tool, cutting all power to the room. All sounds from the interrogation room stopped, and she heard a "what the hell?" above her followed by footsteps running toward the door. 

She quickly slid back under the door and climbed out of the crawlspace. She took a deep breath before unlocking the other door with the card and opening it.

Commander Iverson had started to rise from his chair as soon as he heard the door being unlocked. "How-" he started to ask before Pidge aimed the taser at him and fired. The commander fell to the floor unconscious.

Keith turned his head as far as he could to see who was behind him. Pidge ran over and started to pick the locks on his restraints.

"Pidge?" Keith asked. "Where did you learn to pick locks?"

"I sneak into the Academy all the time," she replied as she moved to his other arm.

"Hm," Keith mumbled, sounding impressed.

As soon as Keith's arms were free they ran out into the hallway, closing the door behind them to trap Iverson in the room. 

They ran to the end of the hall and looked around. To the left, the hallway continued to what appeared to be some sort of holding cells. To the right there was a short distance before a security door blocking their path. They decided to go right. Pidge unlocked the security door with the stolen access card and the two of them walked through.

On the other side of the door the hallway continued for several yards before there was another hallway to the right. They carefully ran down the hallway and were almost to the intersection where the two hallways met when suddenly the lights started flashing red and an alarm went off.

"We have two escaped prisoners. Code: Alpha Nine. We are on lockdown."

"I guess whoever's supposed to be monitoring the security cameras isn't asleep after all," Pidge said.

They looked down the hallway. There were guards coming down both of them.

"In here!" Keith called, motioning to another security door behind them. Pidge used the card again, opening the door. They quickly ducked into the room, hoping that they didn't just trap themselves. To their relief, they were in some sort of stairwell. They quickly climbed the stairs and Pidge unlocked the door at the top.

Once they went through the door, they both looked around in amazement that they actually knew where they were.

"We're in Iverson's office!" exclaimed Keith, surprised. "That means we were under the academy."

The door closed behind them and seemed to completely disappear into the wall. The sounds of the alarm below disappeared as well.

They cautiously stepped out into the hall and were relieved to see that it was empty.

"They must be in class," Keith said. 

"We need to keep moving or the guards will catch up with us." Pidge took off down a hallway and Keith followed her. 

The two of them snuck through the halls and managed to make their way to the main parking lot in the front of the building.

"The only way in and out of this complex is that front gate," Keith stated, pointing at the gate which had already been closed and was being heavily watched.

"We can't make it out that way. Follow me, I know another way."

Pidge lead them along the side of the building, ducking under the windows, and entered a different section of the building, an area Keith was unfamiliar with. The words above the door identified it as "Research and Development."

They wandered through the halls, which Pidge seemed to know quite well, until they reached an office. Pidge used the multi tool she still had to quickly pick the lock on the door. While Pidge was working, Keith noticed the sign hanging to the right of the door.

 

 

> _Head of Extraterrestrial Investigation_
> 
> _Samuel Holt_

 

Pidge pushed the door open revealing a mostly empty, seemingly unused office. 

"Is this-" started Keith

"Yeah. They've already sent all of his personal belongings to us. They're supposed to have it totally cleaned out by the end of the week."

"Why are we here?"

"The window." Pidge made her way across the office to the window. "The lock is broken. The windows aren't supposed to open far, but this one opens wider than the others." Pidge pulled the window open as far as it will go, which was just enough room for someone as small as her to be able to climb through. "This is how I've been getting in and out."

"And they never figured out this is how you got into the building?"

"I know where every camera is in this part of the building. It's not hard to sneak around and come into the main building from a different side."

Pidge climbed through the window then motioned for Keith to follow her. He hesitated slightly, unsure if he'd fit through the same opening that she did, but he didn't have a choice. He started to climb through the window while Pidge kept watch outside.

"… I'm stuck."

"What?"

 

"I… I'm stuck."

Pidge turned around. If it wasn't for the imminent threat of getting caught and brought back to where they had just escaped from, Pidge would've laughed at the sight. Keith was halfway through the window, trying to push himself through the rest of the way but he just couldn't make it.

"I'm going to try to pull you."

Pidge grabbed Keith's arms.

"On the count of three. Ready? One… Two… Three!"

Pidge pulled. It didn't seem like he was going to budge for a moment, but then suddenly he came loose and toppled out of the open window, knocking Pidge over causing the two of them to crash into the sand.

Almost immediately, Pidge stood up and started running.

"Pidge! Wait!" Keith called.

"We have to keep moving or they'll catch us!"

"We're never going to be able to outrun them." Pidge looked to see what Keith was staring at. There was an unattended jeep parked a few yards away, next to the main building.

"We'll take that."

"How are we-"

"Just get in."

Pidge shrugged and climbed into the passenger's seat of the jeep. Keith ducked down under the steering wheel for a moment and when the jeep started he situated himself in the driver's seat before speeding off, kicking up a cloud of sand.

"Where did you learn to hotwire a car?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Just keep watch behind us and let me know if they start following us. I'm gonna try to see how far we can get before they spot us."

"It's kinda hard to miss a cloud of sand," Pidge said sarcastically.

"Well there's nothing I can do about that right now." 

Keith drove along the side of the complex until he reached the front. They kept going, Keith driving in the sand parallel to the road, the complex beginning to fade into the background. Pidge saw the front gate open and several jeeps coming through the gate in pursuit of the escaped pair.

"They've spotted us! They're sending a ton of jeeps after us!"

"Damn. Hang on."

Keith floored it until they were driving as fast as they could go. It didn't take long for the complex to start shrinking behind them and the town to start growing in front of them. As soon as they were in the town, Keith stopped the jeep and jumped out. 

"Wha-" 

"Run!"

They ran through a tight space between two houses where the guards could not follow them in their vehicles. They weaved in and out and around until they had lost the people chasing them. Then they started running behind a row of houses at the edge of the desert.

Pidge stopped when they were outside of a certain house. Keith took a few more steps before he realized that she had stopped running. He quickly figured out that it was Pidge's house. The house was dark and no one appeared to be home.

"You know, you still have a house and someone to go back to. You don't have to run. You can tell them where the laptop is and go home to your mother."

"It's not the same. I just want my family back together, my _whole_ family."

Keith grabbed her shoulder and turned her so they were looking eye-to-eye "Do you realize that the next time you get caught, it'll be worse than just being asked some questions? You'll be in some serious trouble."

"Why do you care so much?" 

"I just… I just want to make sure you know what you're getting into." Pidge was taken aback by the way Keith seemed genuinely concerned about her.

Pidge huffed. "I'm not a helpless little girl. I know what I'm doing."

Keith looked into her eyes for a long time, looking for any sign of weakness or uncertainty, but relented when he saw nothing but determination. "Ok," he said quietly.

Pidge shuffled awkwardly and looked up at Keith. "So, what are you going to do now?"

Keith sighed. He hadn't had a chance to think about the fact that he had nowhere to go. "I don't know." He looked up at the sky and studied the blue expanse for a few moments before speaking again.

"Do you really think they're still out there somewhere? And they're _alive_?" 

"Yes," Pidge said confidently.

"Then I'll do whatever I can to help find them." Keith hesitated. "And bring them home."

Pidge resisted the urge to smile. She didn't understand why she liked the idea of him helping her so much. She wanted to trust him, but there was still _one_ thing tugging at the back of her mind.

"Why were you kicked out of the Galaxy Garrison?"

Keith looked at her confused.

"They told me you attacked a superior officer unprovoked," Pidge elaborated, fiddling with her sleeve. "Is that true?"

Keith looked at the ground to avoid her gaze. "It wasn't unprovoked but more or less, yes."

"What happened?" Pidge asked hesitantly.

"Do you know who Commander Iverson is?"

Pidge nodded.

"… I punched him in the face." 

Pidge tried to hold back her laughter, but was unsuccessful. 

"You _punched_ him?"

Keith looked at Pidge, unsure of what to do, while Pidge laughed harder trying to imagine it.

"Aw man, I wish I was there to see it!"

Keith smiled a little as he began to realize that he loved the sound of her laughing. 

"Why'd you do it?" Pidge asked when she finally caught her breath.

"He pissed me off. He made it sound like what happened at Kerberos was Shiro's fault."

Pidge's expression suddenly got serious at the mention of Kerberos.

"I-I'm sorry." Keith said.

"Don't be." Pidge looked up at the sky. "It wasn't Shiro's fault."

They stood in silence for a few moments before Keith spoke.

"If we're going to do this, we need to get going. They'll be here soon."

"Wait!" Pidge looked slightly unsure about something before making up her mind. "There's something I want to do first." 

Keith looked around to make sure no one could see them. "Make it quick. We've been here too long already."

Pidge ran over to the back door. She lifted up a rock and dug in the dirt briefly until she found the key she was looking for. She unlocked the back patio door and put the key back in its hiding spot, replacing the rock.

"I'll stand guard out here," Keith said.

Pidge pointed to the three windows on the second floor above the patio. "The window on the right. If anyone comes, throw a rock at that window."

Keith nodded. Pidge entered the house and went directly up the stairs to her room. When she turned on the light, she saw that her room was a mess. Everything was everywhere, drawers were taken out of her desk and dresser and emptied, the spare computer parts that she kept in a box in her closet were scattered across the floor. It was obvious that her room had been searched.

Pidge made her way through the mess and over to her desk, careful to not wake her dog who was sleeping on her bed. She found a notebook and ripped a piece of paper out of it. She grabbed a pen and started to write. 

 

> _Dear mom,_
> 
> _I'm ok. I found a clue about where Dad and Matt could be. They're alive and I am going to bring them home. I also found someone to help me search, someone who knows Shiro._
> 
> _I'm sorry to leave you, but I will be home soon, with Dad and Matt._
> 
> _Love, Katie._

 

Just as she was finishing the note, she heard a small rock hit her window. She grabbed her note and headed out into the hall. She was about to go downstairs when she heard the front door being unlocked. She paused, considering talking to her mom and telling her in person, but changed her mind when she realized that that would only make it even harder to leave. Instead, she ducked into her parents' room and left the note on the bed. She went back into her room and, turning off the light, she climbed over the mess using the light from the window. Another rock hit the window. She walked to the far side of her bed and grabbed a small wallet from her nightstand. She opened it up to see how much money she had before stuffing it in her pocket. She made her way back to the window and opened it. The dog sleeping on her bed woke up at the sound and started wagging his tail and barking excitedly when he saw Pidge.

"Sshhhh!!" she whispered. "Down, boy!"

She climbed out the window and onto the roof of the patio. The dog tried to follow her but his short legs couldn't reach. Instead he whined when he saw Pidge leaving again.

"I'm sorry boy, but I have to go." Pidge scratched her dog's head before gently closing the window from the outside. She ran to the edge of the sloped roof and jumped down, Keith catching her.

"Run," she called to Keith and they took off running as fast as they could.

Once they were out of sight of the house, they slowed to a walking pace.

"We need to go find my backpack," Pidge said as she turned toward the desert.

"Wait," Keith said. "We should lay low for a few hours. It's the heat of the day, a bad time to be traveling in the desert sun, and anyway they're probably still looking for us."

"But-" Pidge tried to argue, but she knew Keith was right. They were both dehydrated and hungry and not strong enough to make it very far into the desert.

"Ok," she conceded. "I have a little bit of money - let's get something to eat."

They walked several blocks until they felt that they were far enough away that they wouldn't get caught. Then they wandered into a nearby fast food restaurant. Once they got their food, they retreated to a booth in the corner, as far away from any windows as they could get. They said nothing to each other as they devoured their food quickly.

"Without that laptop, I'll have to start my search all over. Everything I have is saved on it,” Pidge said when she started slowing down.

"We'll find it," Keith assured her as he shoved a handful of french fries into his mouth.

* * *

 

They waited several hours until the sun started going down before heading in the direction of where Keith's house was. It took a long time to get there on foot and they would've quickly gotten lost if Keith didn't know the desert so well.

When they arrived, Keith kneeled down and ran his fingers through the ashes.

"There's nothing left," he said, voice shaky with emotion.

"I'm sorry," Pidge offered. "If it wasn't for me running out here, this wouldn't have happened."

Keith sighed. "It's not your fault. When I found you, I knew that you were probably running from something, and I knew that helping you could mean trouble, but I did anyway." Keith lowered his voice as though he didn't want Pidge to hear what he had to say next. "… I don't regret it, though."

They sat in silence for a while as Keith tried to fight back tears.

"At least my speeder's ok," he said when he was finally able to speak again.

Keith turned his back on the pile of ashes that used to be his house and climbed on to the speeder. "Let's go find your backpack. I think I know where it might be."

Pidge climbed on behind him and held tight around his waist. Soon, the outcropping where they had seen the carvings came into view. Keith parked the speeder in the same spot he had parked it last time and the two of them climbed off and began searching.

"It should be around here somewhere."

Pidge looked around and thought she noticed something sticking out from behind a rock. She ran over to it and pulled her backpack out from where it was hiding.

"It's here! It's still here!" she cried.

Keith ran over. "Is everything there?"

Pidge sat down in the sand and using what little daylight was left she rummaged through the bag. "It looks like it!" She zipped the backpack back up and hugged it tightly, as though her life depended on what was in the bag.

A sudden chill ran down both of their spines. With the sun going down, the desert was starting to get very cold. With nowhere else to go, they retreated into one of the caves and Keith built a small fire near the entrance. Pidge laid down with her back to the fire, clutching her backpack. She shivered. Suddenly she felt something land on top of her. _Keith's jacket?_ She rolled over slightly to face him.

"Wh-"

"You looked cold," Keith cut her off as he settled down on the other side of the fire.

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine. I'm more used to the desert cold than you are."

"Ok." Pidge was too tired to argue. She rolled back over and pulled Keith's warm jacket closer around her. It wasn't long before she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 

When they woke the next day, the sun was already blazing in the sky.

The two of them climbed up to the highest point they could find and Pidge started taking her equipment out of her backpack.

"Where did you get all this?" Keith asked.

"I built it!" Pidge responded proudly.

Keith watched in admiration as Pidge worked. It didn’t take her long to set everything up and start scanning the skies.

"So how does it work?" Keith asked.

"This," Pidge pointed to a small device that looked like a satellite dish, "retrieves any radio waves. This," she pointed to a small electronic box which the device was attached to, "boosts the range so I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system. And this," she pointed to an even smaller box with a dial on it, "lets me change frequencies. Then, it sends the data to my laptop where I have a program that translates it into English for me." She looked at the screen which displayed texts about some planned maintenance and schedules of smaller incoming ships. "It's not very active right now," she added.

Keith looked over her shoulder, thoroughly impressed. 

They sat in silence for a short while until both their stomachs rumbled.

"I better go find some food," Keith said.

"I'll stay here and keep scanning to see if anything interesting comes up."

Keith climbed down, leaving Pidge alone. The time passed slowly, making it seem like it was longer than it was. Pidge's stomach kept growling until Keith finally returned with some water and a freshly cooked… something. Pidge didn't even bother to ask what it was, she was just happy to have something to eat. 

Keith laid on his back behind Pidge, staring at the sky with his head resting in his hands. "So this is what you do all day?"

"When I'm able to at least." Pidge shifted so she was a little more comfortable. "I've never been able to scan while this far away from town though. There's a lot less interference. That makes it much easier."

"That's good."

They sat in silence for a while, Pidge focusing on her scanning and Keith staring at the sky.

"So what will you do once you've got your family back?"

Pidge blinked at Keith. She was focusing on the scanning so much that she almost didn't hear him.

"I don't know." Pidge pulled off her headphones. "I've always wanted to be a pilot, though. I've read all the fighter manuals. So maybe I'll become a student at the Garrison." She hesitated. "Well, then again I don’t know if I even _want_ to join the Garrison now, not after what they’ve done to cover up what happened to my family."

"The Garrison's not that great, anyway."

Pidge giggled, making Keith smile.

"It's just…" Pidge trailed off, unsure of whether or not she wanted to share this bit of personal information.

"Just what?"

"I kinda feel like I'm meant for space exploration. To travel to other words and see what's beyond our solar system." Keith sat up to listen closer. "I just… almost feel destined to travel in space. I know, it sounds weird." 

"It doesn't sound weird at all." They locked eyes and Pidge could tell that Keith meant every word. After a moment they both blushed and looked away.

"My dad always supported me. He said he believed that I'd have my own crew one day, and that I'd be part of something that'll make the whole universe sit up and take notice." 

"Your father sounds like a great man."

Pidge smiled. "He is. Dad always told my brother and me that with how big the universe is, it would be foolish to believe we're alone out here. He always believed in aliens and made it his life's work to prove it."

Pidge's voice lowered so it was barely audible. "I guess he found the proof he wanted."

Keith put his arm around Pidge's shoulders. "Don't worry. We'll find them. We'll find our families."

Pidge leaned into Keith's shoulder. Although she'd never admit it, she was actually losing hope herself. She had hit somewhat of a dead end in searching for her family without being able to actually go into space and search for them. All she had was her scanner and some video footage she had watched probably over a thousand times. Having someone with her who supported her and believed in her filled her with hope again. 

Suddenly, the screen started lighting up with text.

"What's going on?"

Pidge scrambled to put her headphones back on.

"It says a prisoner escaped. Prisoner 117-9875. And they're heading right toward Earth!"

They looked at each other in excitement.

"It could be your dad or brother!"

"Or Shiro!" Pidge started typing furiously on her laptop. "I'm picking up something that could be an escape pod from an alien ship. Based on how far away it is and the speed it appears to be traveling, it should be here an a few hours." 

"Any idea where it will land?"

"Hang on a minute." Pidge opened up another program on her laptop and started typing. "That's a little harder to figure with the trajectory and Earth's rotation. But it looks like it'll be in this desert. Right over there." Pidge pointed to an open space nearby. When they looked over, they could see some people in Garrison uniforms who appeared to be setting up some sort of temporary structure.

"I guess they got the transmission too," Pidge said dejectedly. "They're going to get to the ship first. They're going to cover this up too." 

"No. They're not." Keith said slowly. "I have a plan."

* * *

 

"Attention students! This is not a drill! We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat! All students are to remain in barracks until further notice."

The last rays of sunlight could be seen on the horizon as the announcement rang through the school.

"Come on! We need to go see what's happening!" 

"Lance, I'm just going to tell you right now, this is a bad idea." 

"Where's your sense of adventure, Hunk?"

"What part of 'lockdown' do you not understand?"

"Nothing exciting ever happens out here," Lance whined. "And when something _does_ happen, you don't want to check it out?" 

"Yes! Exactly! I want to live to see tomorrow!"

"Well I'm going to go see what's going on. You can stay here in boringland if you want." Lance ran off, his original plan of sneaking into town forgotten. Hunk groaned and followed him, not wanting his friend to be alone when he inevitably gets into trouble.

* * *

 

The small spacecraft crashed and skidded across the desert until coming to a complete stop. Several personnel from the Garrison approached the spacecraft, blocking the view that Keith and Pidge had.

Keith turned to Pidge and put his hands on her shoulders to look her in the eyes. "Are you ready?"

"Yes." Pidge's voice was filled with determination.

Keith walked a few steps away. He watched as the guards wheeled someone strapped on a stretcher into the building they had built earlier that day. As soon as they were out of view, they switched their focus to Pidge's laptop, where she had grabbed the feed from a camera inside. 

"That's Shiro!" Keith exclaimed.

"What happened to him?" Pidge asked, noticing the scar and change of hair color.

"We'll find out once we get him out of there. Here we go." Keith hit the button on a hidden detonator. A few brief seconds passed before several explosions went off in the distance. All available guards headed off in the direction of the explosions while Keith sneaked in from the other side. Pidge watched from her laptop as Keith quickly took down the three doctors in hazmat suits and cut the straps that were holding Shiro down.

"Keith? Is that you?"

"I'm here, Shiro. You're safe on Earth now."

"No. They're coming. They'll destroy us all. We have to find Voltron."

"Voltron?" Keith half whispered.

Shiro sat up and started to climb off of the stretcher, but he seemed a little unsteady. Keith reached out to steady him before pulling Shiro's arm around his shoulders to help him walk.

"First let's get you out of here."

They walked down the hallway to the outside and started heading to where Pidge was waiting. 

"Keith? What the hell?" someone called. Keith turned to face the source of the voice.

"Who are you?"

"Who am I? The name's _Lance_. We were in the same class at the Garrison."

Keith paused a moment before he remembered. "Oh, I remember you. You're a cargo pilot."

"Well not anymore. Fighter class now, thanks to you washing out."

"Congratulations," Keith said dryly.

They walked back to where Pidge was hiding between some boulders.

"Let's get out of here," Keith said plainly.

"Wait, hold up! How did a guy like _you_ get a girlfriend as cute as _her_?"

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"Well that's a relief." Lance turned to Pidge. "Girl, do you believe in love at first sight or do I have to walk by again?"

"They're coming back, we need to go _now_ ," Keith snapped as he helped Shiro and Pidge climb on to the speeder.

"Hey, uh, is there any chance that we could get a ride with you? We'll be serious trouble if we get caught out here," Hunk pleaded.

"Not my problem," Keith stated as he climbed on. 

Lance started to climb on before Keith could go anywhere. "Oh come on, lighten up. Let's have an adventure!"

"We need to put as much distance between us and the Garrison as fast as we can, and the extra weight will only slow us down."

"Keith, we need to get going before they find us!" Pidge said.

"I'm not going to get off!" Lance called as he settled down right behind Pidge. " _Someone_ has to make sure the pretty lady doesn't fall off!" 

"You're getting off right now!" Keith shouted angrily. 

"Stop!" Shiro yelled, reaching out an arm to help Hunk who was already halfway on. "The important thing is to get out of here. Now go!"

Keith rolled his eyes before starting the engine and speeding off. They went a fair distance before slowing down and finally stopping.

"What happened? Why did we stop?" Pidge asked.

"We broke down," Keith replied. Everyone climbed off of the vehicle.

"Now what?" Lance asked.

"This is your fault. I should've just left you two behind."

"Enough!" Shiro called. "There's nothing we can do about that now." He looked around. A short distance away there was an entrance to a cave hidden by some large boulders. "Let's hide in here for now while we regroup."

The five of them shuffled into the cave and looked around.

"There's carvings on the walls!" Lance exclaimed. Keith had to bite his tongue so as to not make a sarcastic remark. Lance brushed his hand against one and suddenly all of the markings started glowing blue.

"What did you do?" Keith demanded. Before he could get an answer, the ground below them suddenly gave way. They tumbled down a tunnel and landed in an underground pool of water. When they stood up, they were face to face with a giant blue lion inside of what appeared to be a force field. 

"Is this it? Is this the Voltron?" Pidge asked.

"This is the blue lion from the markings. It must be what's causing the energy out here," Keith responded.

The group started walking toward the lion. 

"Does anyone else get the feeling it's staring at them?" Lance asked.

"No," stated Shiro.

"Yeah, the eyes are totally following me." Lance moved to the left and right as he walked, almost bumping into those around him.

"I wonder how we get through this," Keith thought out loud as he placed a hand on the force field.

"Maybe you just have to knock?" Lance knocked on the force field. Keith looked at him incredulously and was surprised when the force field actually lowered for him.

Suddenly, all five of them saw a flash of a vision of five lions coming together to form one giant robot with a flaming sword.

"Did everyone else just see that?" Lance asked.

"This is just one part of Voltron!" Pidge exclaimed.

"This must be what they're looking for," said Shiro.

The lion lowered its head and opened its mouth. Out from the mouth came a ramp which lead to a cockpit. Lance ran ahead and sat in the pilot's seat, followed by the rest of the group.

"I-I feel the need to point out, just so we're all, you know, aware, we're in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now."

"Did you guys just hear that?" Lance asked.

"Hear what?" replied Keith. 

"I think it's talking to me." Lance started hitting random buttons, causing the lion to stand up and _growl_. He took the controls and soon the lion came bursting out of the cave where it was hiding. It ran around briefly until taking off into space.

"Where are we going?" Hunk panicked.

"We're in space!" Pidge exclaimed.

"W-why are we in space?" Hunk looked sick.

"I don't know, the lion's on autopilot. It says there's an alien ship approaching Earth, I think we're supposed to stop it." 

"The lion told you that?" Keith asked.

"Well, it's not telling me words, more like it's feeding ideas into my brain."

A moment later, they were face-to-face with a large purple spaceship.

"They followed me," Shiro mumbled in fear.

As soon as they were spotted by the ship, several purple lasers started being fired toward the lion. Lance barely dodged them before charging right toward the ship.

"What are you doing?" Keith shouted.

"Relax, I got this." Lance pulled on the controls and the lion fired a shot of its own. The shot took out some of the lasers but not all of them.

"Let's try this!" The lion charged the ship, cutting a hole in the side and taking out the rest of the lasers.

"Nice job!" Pidge cheered.

"Why thank you, pretty lady!" Lance flashed a flirtatious smile at Pidge.

"Let's focus on getting these aliens _away from our planet_." Keith glared at Lance.

"Alright, let's do this." Lance piloted the blue lion away from the Earth. The alien spacecraft turned around and followed them. Once they were sure that they were being followed, and that the spacecraft was _not_ preparing to attack Earth, they started traveling at full speed.

"Wait, isn't that Kerberos?" Pidge exclaimed. "It takes _months_ for our ships to get out this far. We got here in _five seconds_!"

While they were looking at Kerberos, a wormhole opened up before them.

"Guys, the lion wants us to go through there," Lance said.

"Okay, _why_ are we trusting this lion again?" Hunk asked.

"It told us to stop the alien spaceship before they attacked, didn't it?" Keith stated.

"Let's go!" said Pidge.

"Alright. Let's see where this goes!"

They entered the wormhole - a tunnel of brilliant lights of all colors swirling around them. They may have enjoyed the scenery better if it wasn't for their bodies feeling like they're being pulled apart yet held tightly together all at once.

They didn't stay in the tunnel long and soon they were on the other side, right next to a planet that looked quite similar to Earth.

"I don't recognize any of these constellations. We must be a _long_ way from Earth," said Shiro.

The lion entered the planet's atmosphere on its own and approached a giant castle.

"I think… I think this is its home."

The lion landed gently before opening its mouth and extending the ramp.

"Keep your guard up," Shiro warned everyone. "We don't know anything about this planet or its inhabitants."

Once everyone had exited and were standing on the ground, the lion let out a loud roar which seemed to activate and open the front door of the castle.

"What do you think is in here?" Lance asked before walking into the castle. He was followed closely by Hunk.

Keith started to walk forward when he felt someone grab his hand. He turned around to see that it was Pidge holding onto it. He stepped back and turned to look her in the eyes.

"Are you scared?"

"No. Maybe. I don't know." She squeezed Keith's hand tightly. "This is the farthest I've ever gotten in searching for my family. But what if I fail? What if I came all this way for nothing?"

Keith pulled Pidge into a tight, warm hug. He could feel her shaking slightly. "You won't fail. You're smart and resourceful, and you have me to help you. We _will_ find your family. We found mine, and we're going to find yours." 

Pidge wrapped her arms around Keith, her nervous shaking having all but stopped. She found comfort in both his words and his presence.

"I'm here for you," Keith assured her softly. "You don't have to do this alone. I promise."

"Thank you, Keith."

**Author's Note:**

> So about the lizard thing, I read that while lizards are edible, they really aren’t ideal for food since they barely have any meat and aren’t worth the time and energy it takes to catch one. Even so, I decided to include it because I have a headcanon that Keith ate strange things when he lived in the desert, and is so used to eating whatever he can find that he forgets that other people may not be so willing to eat strange foods as he is.
> 
> And that interrogation/escape scene. UGH. I wrote and re-wrote and re-wrote that part so many times and I eventually got it to where it’s good enough because I didn’t feel like working on that scene anymore. And I’m not sure if it makes sense that Pidge would forget where she put the backpack, but she was really tired when she left it there. Plus I wanted to hurry up and finish this, so hopefully that’s not too much of a plot hole.


End file.
